Miami splits squad in VA

The Miami University women’s tennis team travels to Virginia for a set of tournaments split between the team. Four RedHawks face the University of Virginia in Charlottesville for the UVA Invitational, and the rest of the team takes on Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, VA.

MU has faced neither of these teams before, but they are looking good against some tough competition.

“It’s definitely going to be a tough match, but I’m excited to be playing a team of that caliber,” sophomore Hannah Shyten said.

Shyten’s overall record sits at 19-13. She is one of the four going to UVA.

The weekend road trip is Miami’s first of the season. The Red and White are confident in their ability to compete against the two teams.

“The main goal for us is to be match-tough, we want to win,” assistant coach Ricardo Rosas said. “The girls are going to be exposed to pretty good tennis … some of the best teams in the country, but hey are who we need to compete against them to get better.”

It is Miami’s first time splitting up to face two different schools. According to Rosas, it’s rare for the team to be split between tournaments, but, in order to be able to compete against UVA, they had to make cuts.

“It’s sad that we’re not traveling together, but we are all rooting for each other,” Shyten said.

Shyten said when they competed against Michigan last year, the team had several areas needing improvement. She feels this year they are much more prepared to take on a tougher team.

“One thing we’ve really been working on is being aggressive, and I think that was our biggest problem before,” Shyten said. “We’ve really come together as a team.”